What is A Heart?
by Unbalanced Kiss
Summary: "She smiled at him, and he grunted quietly in response, moving his hand to trace over her lips. The gesture seemed to shock Orihime, but she didn't move. She wasn't sure that she even wanted to move."


_Well uh. I was watching this pretty nicely done UlquiHime amv and was suddenly struck with the idea to write this. It's rather short... but I kinda like it. Enjoy~_

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Originally his life was dull. Black and White. He followed Aizen's orders for the sole purpose of finding something interesting to do with his life. But was it really all that interesting following orders? Certainly it was more interesting than not. Besides, he wasn't ready to die just yet, and surely that was what would happen had he decided Aizen wasn't worth his time. Which he had, not too long after his arrival, but Ulquiorra was willing to keep that small detail to himself.

Las Noches was soon created, a seemingly endless building. And yet, with all the commotion over this whole Arrancar business and Aizen seeking power to conquer the world, Ulquiorra still found life dull. Meaningless. Boring. Worthless, even. He sometimes found himself thinking that maybe having Aizen take his life wouldn't be that bad of an idea. But still, he fought as hard as one does when they find life meaningless and somehow found himself ranked as the fourth Espada. Not the strongest, but surely not the weakest.

It was around the time when Aizen ordered Ulquiorra to the human world that things started to change. He sometimes wonders if it was purely coincidental that he met the girl back then. If, maybe, somehow things were meant to happen this way. Ulquiorra was looking for something interesting, and not too long after that... Orihime shows up.

Of course he didn't take notice of her at first. She was just a human, nothing to be seen or heard of. He despised humans, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon. Only... Orihime wasn't exactly human. She was a little different from the others he had seen before. She wasn't a shinigami... and she wasn't really completely human either. So what did that leave...?

He gathered Data for Aizen, just as he was ordered to, and then he left.

Ulquiorra figured that would be the last he'd have to see of the girl. He was a little more than surprised - of course no one would've been able to tell with his usual aloof expression plastered on his face - when Aizen ordered him to take the girl. And ever the obedient one, that's exactly what he did. Threatening her friends was the easiest way to get the girl to willingly follow him to Hueco Mundo; he was satisfied when it worked.

When Aizen ordered him to look after the girl, bring her her meals, make sure she didn't kill herself, Ulquiorra was slightly annoyed. Why should he have to look after a human? (He ignored the fact that she wasn't entirely _normal_ for a human.) But, despite his not-so-obvious annoyance, he followed the orders anyway.

Then, during one of their meetings, Ulquiorra had walked in on Orihime just as she finished changing into the aquired robes that Aizen insisted she wear. He somehow found himself staring a little bit more than necessary. The dress made her hair stand out more than usual. Against the white of the walls and the dullness that was Las Noches, Orihime stood out. Somehow, this despicable _human_ seemed to pique Ulquiorra's interest. But just barely.

He turned and left after muttering to her about how he would be back with food later.

That was also the day that Ulquiorra discovered something interesting, but disturbingly annoying about the girl. She was stubborn. She had it set in her mind that she wouldn't eat, that killing herself was probably the best bet out of Las Noches. So Ulquiorra did the only thing he was good at and threatened the girl. She started eating little by little afterward, and that was enough for him.

There was a time, several days after her arrival, where Orihime's friends had come to Hueco Mundo on a rescue mission. She felt the reiatsu of her friends slowly fading and was desperately telling Ulquiorra that they weren't dead. That them dying wasn't even a possibility. He found it interesting that she would so desperately cling to hope, when there wasn't really anything left to cling to anymore. Harsh words were spoken, and a slap to the face had quickly shut him up. It astounded him that she would be brave enough to even lay a hand on him, especially when it was obvious that he could kill her in a matter of seconds.

He turned and left without another word.

Tears. They were always present when it came to the caged human. Ulquiorra wondered sometimes why she had cried so much. Was there a point to her sadness? Tears couldn't bring back the one's she lost. They didn't have that sort of power. After the day Orhime slapped Ulquiorra, he didn't see her cry anymore. And he couldn't help but think that she didn't see the point in crying anymore either.

Occasionally, when Ulquiorra really had nothing better to do, he found himself standing at the door of Orihime's cell. Sometimes he would walk away, others he'd find himself entering the room and sitting at the table. Orihime was surprised the first few times, but gradually she got used to his visits, which had become much more frequent as the days passed. Sometimes they would talk about things, most of the time the visits were done in silence.

It was during one visit something strange happened. They were sitting on the couch in silence. Orihime had her legs drawn up to her chest while Ulquiorra sat, legs crossed. Orihime huffed, "I'm bored!" bringing Ulquiorra's attention to the girl. He let out an inaudible sigh, "So?" She let out an exaggerated groan, "...Can I ask you something?" Ulquiorra turned and positioned himself so he was facing the red-head. "If you must."

"Why are there tear marks on your face?" Ulquiorra had stayed silent, not entirely sure how to answer her question. Orihime had moved a little closer so that she was only a few inches away from him. "Er.. well... Can I touch them?" He supposed that he probably should've said no. Should've just got up and left, but he stayed silent instead. His face blank.

Orihime swallowed and lifted a steady hand, reached toward Ulquiorra's face and gently made contact with his cheek. Her face flushed red and she ever so slightly traced the lines running down his face. In an instant, Ulquiorra had grabbed Orihime's hand and it was in that moment that she realized that she had subconsciously moved closer to him. "Are you satisfied...?" Ulquiorra lifted his free hand and let it rest on the girl's cheek.

"You're unusually warm, Woman." Orihime opened and closed her mouth, searching for something to say, all the while slightly leaning into his touch. "I... I think you might just be unusually cold." She smiled at him, and he grunted quietly in response, moving his hand to trace over her lips. The gesture seemed to shock Orihime, but she didn't move. She wasn't sure that she even wanted to move. When Ulquiorra leaned in painstakingly slow, her eyes fluttered shut.

That day Ulquiorra experimentally brushed his lips against hers.

There were other days like those. Days where they would sit and talk, and days where he would touch her, hold her... kiss her. And she'd let him. He found that if he listened really closely, he could hear her heart beating erratically in her chest. That's when he dared to touch her more, pull her closer, kiss her harder. He found it was beginning to become difficult just to _not_ touch her. It was a strange attraction that he could no longer deny. And he was extemely satisfied to find she could no longer deny it either.

But good things always come to an end. And although Ulquiorra wasn't just about ready to admit out loud that he enjoyed spending time with the girl, he knew that he wasn't just about ready to give up those days either. So when Kurosaki Ichigo showed up, ready to kill and take back his friend, Ulquiorra wasn't going to let him get away with it. They fought for what seemed like ages, and things got serious. He found himself hovering over the dead body of Ichigo and the crying girl who was desperately trying to heal him.

He already knew that Orihime would probably never forgive him for killing the man that she loved. And that irked him, pissed him off to an extent that he wished he could kill the boy all over again. Orihime hadn't cried in the longest time, but she cried for this man whom so easily captured her heart.

And so, Ulquiorra realized that he loved her.

Before he knew it, things were thrown into turmoil and then he was the one dying. Standing there, feeling excruciating pain as his body slowly deteriorated. He turned to Orihime and couldn't help but ask, "Do I scare you... Woman?" Asking was pointless, he already knew the answer from the conversation they had before this fight. Before they kissed. He reached his hand toward her, yearning to just feel the touch of her skin one last time before he couldn't anymore.

He saw the tears fill her eyes as she told him she wasn't afraid. And he couldn't help but feel satisfied that she was crying over him. That her tears were now meant for him. That he had actually made a strong enough impression on this girl. She reached for his hand but it was already too late. It started deteriorating quicker now until there really wasn't much left to him.

That day, Ulquiorra died. That day, he realized what a heart was. That day, he took part of Orihime's with him.

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_So that's that, huh? Hoped you liked it :). I randomly stayed up allll night writing this story.. It's about 4:30 in the morning. I don't know what I'm doing to myself. Thank God, it's summer! Well anyway... the name of the video that randomly inspired me to write this is called: [SAS] Hold Me - Ulquiorra x Orihime (On youtube of course.)_

_It's pretty well done, and I liked it a lot. So you should go watch it and enjoy the amazingness of UlquiHime :D._

_KBYE._

_-UnbalancedKiss.  
_


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